Home!!!

My big, happy family together at last!

Thanks for the Letters

I love you all. Thanks for the letters. See you in a couple of days. Got lots of greenies to pick up at the airport today.

Love,

Anziano Hatch

Phone Call

Hey what a great week it has been so far! We had our first zone conference, and we couldn't have been more pleased with the missionaries in Puglia. They are great. We had zone conference yesterday in Bari. We drove down with President and Sister Kelly on Monday night. We had a great time in the car talking about transfers and just words to live by from President and Sister Kelly. After the conference, we had another dosing of it on the way back. They are great people. After our Malta trip, we spent a few days preparing for our home stretch of the transfer. We are preparing to be really busy.

Well, I don't have much to write about, but it will be great to talk with you all on Sunday. I will call around 11 your time, and we can talk about things then. Talk to you on Sunday!

Love,
Anziano Hatch

Going Into the Straight Away

No I am not talking about the straight away in a race where the finish is near. (We don't talk about that.) I am talking about the one straight piece of track on a hotwheels set where there are those foam rollers that boost the car around the track. We are in the final days of preparation for the zone conferences next week. There will be two per week until the end of the transfer - mixed with various and sundry assignments. So it will be quite busy.

So this week I completed my travels of all the places where Paul preached on his journey to Rome with this week's visit to Malta (Melita in the scripture). For those that didn't know, Malta is the most southern part of our mission, and we got to go there this week to do exchanges with the missionaries there. We have some really amazing missionaries there in Malta. They are doing some hard work on an island that can fit inside the freeway that circles Rome. We were impressed with the things that they were doing there. We saw various things and taught their investigators, and in the end I bought an "I heart" Malta t-shirt. It was a really good trip.

Easter was great. It was the first time in our ward this transfer. The bishop gave a smack-down talk about the Atonement and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Way good day at church. The rest of the day was spent planning and finishing our training and whatnot. We were also invited over to the mission home to eat Easter dinner with President and Sister Kelly and their son and his family. It was good. And delicious!

Love you all. Talk to you next Wednesday and on Mother's Day!

Anziano Hatch

Pictures of me in Malta and the buses in Malta. I thought I was in "Remember the Titans."

A Little Time To Relax

Well after a heck-tic week, and also a fun one, we had a somewhat more normal one with less to do but good all the same. Things started with a spirit-filled zone leader council. We brought in all the zone leaders from around the mission, and that gets a little tricky. You have those arriving on a plane, in a boat, by car or train, and so on and so on. Coordination of traveling skills have definitely been increased in the last six months. It is always a little stressful with misisonaries coming in and having their own things they want to get done while at the mission office and trying to make sure everyone is over at the mission home in time to start lunch. But everything went well. We had a good meeting and also a surprise visit from Elder Wright who was at the district conference in Napoli. And an ex-mission president, Brother Pasta, came just in time to catch all the missionaries that were leaving. So with guest speakers and all, everything went great, and I think we got our message out. Right now we are working on inspired questions and member work. Both things we are hitting pretty hard to be more effective missionaries. After the conference, let's just say getting everyone back to where they needed to go was pretty crazy, and I probably lost some hairs off of my head, but everyone caught their planes, trains, and automobiles...and boats.

Things after the conference cooled off. We took President and his wife to the airport to go to a conference in Calabria on Saturday and picked them up Sunday night. I enjoy the time spent with President and Sister Kelly. It is like being with mom and dad in the car and drinking from their fountains of wisdom. Needless to say, Anziano Rappleye and I learn a lot from them together.

Then yesterday, President's family came to town, or one of his sons and his family. We got to help bring them back from the airport and drove them past the Colosseum and what not. Still, that building never ceases to amaze me. It is great. After that, we did some of the basic things like planning for conference and stuff.

One thing I was wondering is if you could get another copy of my Patriarchal Blessing, because mine is a little worn out. And also, I somehow ended up with the mistaken copy that has grandpa's name on it instead of mine. My blessing but his name, so if you could somehow procure a new one that would be great.

Love you all!
Anziano Hatch

Two in One

WOW! That is all I have to say when I say, "WOW." What a busy time it has been. It started last week around Monday morning as we prepared for new missionaries to arrive - something that didn't happen last transfer. So we were really excited to have new life blood in the mission. We welcomed three native missionaries and one missionary from Uruguay on Tuesday. They were so excited to be here in the mission. We fed them at the mission home and then sent them out with a couple of companionships in Rome for the night. The next day we prepared for Anziano Sapio to go home. Then we went to the airport to pick up six new missionaries from Provo. Everything went great there, and then we met the four that arrived the day before at the mission home. We ate and we trained the greenies, and then President Kelly gave them their assignments.

The next morning, we started shuttling missionaries around Rome from station to station, making sure they got to where they needed to be. In the afternoon I got my new companion, Anziano Rappleye from Wyoming, and we drove one missionary to the airport to get him on a plane for Malta and then continued from there to take two new missionaries to the ferry in Civitavecchia. Then, in time to go to bed, we returned to the mission home with the missionaries who had finished and were preparing to go home. We slept at the villa so we could take missionaries to the airport early in the morning. Then we returned back, and we did some various chores real quick - whatever we could get done before we had to go back to the airport again.

At the airport, we picked up an Area Seventy from England who got it approved to come with his family. So we picked up the entire family there at the airport. We brought them back into Rome, and they stayed the night at the villa. The next morning, we went to the store to buy food to make a nice big breakfast, because we did not have any food. We ate nicely and enjoyed a little time to relax. It didn't last long, because then we went to the villa to prepare to take Elder Wright (Area Seventy) and his family to Napoli for a District Conference.

We got there in time to get President Kelly and Elder Wright to the church for the first set of meetings. Then we went on a failed attempt to procure some food. We had to return and take Sister Kelly and Sister Wright from the hotel to the church. We settled with some McDonald's. We ate with the Wright's family and then took them down to the church. It was a good Saturday session of conference. I enjoyed it a lot. Sunday was just as good and such a sweet time as most of the members from Castellammare and Battipaglia were there. It was a sweet reunion to see them. After the conference, we took the Wrights back to Rome. By that time we were best friends, and the ride home was great. We made a stop at St. Paul's Cathedral outside the walls. It was cool. Big church. Then we ate dinner with them at the villa with President and Sister Kelly.

The next day, we had to say goodbye to our new friends, as we took them to a hotel. They will be in Rome for the rest of the week. It was a really, really, REALLY busy weekend. But what would life be like if it weren't filled with fun things to do, right? Today we went to the Villa Borghese and rode around on Segways. It was great!

So things are sounding great at home. I saw my flight itinerary today also. YIKES. I can't believe that that time is just around the corner. So much to do, so little time. We still have a lot of things ahead of us. Zone Leader Conference is tomorrow. That will be great. I love you, Anziano Hatch

After eating our McDonald's that we brought back for the family

The Wright Family

Preparation day activity in the Villa Borghese on Segways. Really fun!

To Cosenza and Back

This week has been fantastic. We had to go down to Battipaglia to make a car switch. So we drove to Battipaglia and gave them our car temporarily, and then we drove down to Cosenza and gave the senior couple the car that was in Battipaglia. And we took their car, drove back to Battipaglia, and gave them the car that was in Cosenza. And then we took our car back to Rome. It was quite the trip. While we were in Cosenza, we had the opportunity to do exchanges with the missionaries there. We had a really good time with them.

This Tuesday marked the first day of transfer decisions. So we started working with President Kelly on transfers. I always love this time of transfers. It is an opportunity to watch the revelation process. But being with President Kelly also has its perks, as I already know that I will finish here in Rome in the spot where I am now. I know who my companion will be and so on. My companion now, Anziano Sapio, after six months together, has finished his mission. So he will be one of the missionaries leaving on Friday. Just as a warning - next week is shaping up to be a very long week filled with lots of things. It wouldn't surprise me if I don't have time to write until Monday. That would also be nicer for me, because I can then give a full report of all the craziness that will happen.

Hey Mom, I was wondering if you could order for me a compact quad with a snap set of scriptures like the one I have now for use when I get home. I can pay for it, but I would like it for when I am back.

Well that is it for today. Love you.
Anziano Hatch

There and Back Again: A Missionary's Story

Well I am sorry this letter won't be as good as the subject title makes it out to be, but I will try to make it a good one. To start with some bad news, one of the senior couples in the mission had a son die and the sister was diagnosed with a type of blood cancer. And so they returned back to America this week. That means our job in the office became a real job. We are now officially responsible for supply orders and traveling. That adds some more fun for us - adds a little craziness for us. But what would life be if it weren't a little crazy?

So Thursday and Friday were spent learning various things in the office and taking on responsibilities that we didn't even know existed. Man, it takes a lot ot keep the mission running. Saturday we took an inventory on everything in the basement. We didn't finish until Monday evening. There is a lot of stuff in the missionary supply room in the basement that I didn't know existed. On Sunday we flew over to Sardegna and participated in the District Conference there and then a Zone Conference with all the missionaries afterwards. There was an area authority there that spoke at the conference and also at the Zone Conference. In the meeting with the missionaries, he talked about the story about Jesus with the woman at the well, and talked about it in a way that I had never heard before in my life. He talked about the time of day and about how Christ must have been thirsty and hungry, but how he put those things aside and taught the Samaritan woman. He converted her and the whole town. Then he told us a couple of stories about not letting little inconveniences decide whether we keep working or not. It was a good one.

We spent the next day in Sardegna and stayed for one of their district meetings. We have some really good missionaries in Sardegna right now, and I was really impressed with their performance. About mid-day Monday, we flew back to Rome to take care of some things in the office and then returned home. On the flight home, there was a flight attendant who recognized us as missionaries, and we had a chance to share the gospel and give out a couple of pass along cards. That was good. On Tuesday, we started planning for our next transfer - my last one in the mission. How strange a feeling that is. I can't believe I only have this much time left. Craziness.

Well dear family of mine, that is it for this week. I love you all!

Anziano Hatch

Hey Family!

This week has been a great one! Hey, and what do you know? I am writing on Wednesday this week! Ya, beat that. That is great about BYU, although I don't think they will get past the second round if they don't choke before that. Sorry the first email ended so abruptly. (An email to mom about apartment hunting in Provo). We had to take care of some things and the computers in the office were needed. So this weekend was fantastic! We got to go down to Battipaglia to see the branch president and his wife. Anziano Sapio got to see them before they leave for Mexico to adopt some children. They leave before he gets back, so President Kelly made a special exception for him and me! So we were there Saturday evening, and we traveled to Castellammare that night. We went to church there. It was so great to see all of those members again. That branch is probably my favorite one that I have served in. I felt so lucky to be able to go back there.

That night we traveled to Napoli and spent the night there. The next morning we had a district meeting with the Anziani in Napoli. The meeting went really well. We had some really good discussion about member work and how we could help the church grow in Napoli. Really good talk there. That afternoon we took the train from Napoli to Caserta to Bari. We spent the night there, and then the next morning we had some conferences with the missionaries in the Puglia and Calabria regions. It was a good conference. We have been talking about member work and increasing and improving the way that we work with the members. Good stuff. Then after the conference, we drove back in the car with President and Sister Kelly.

Well it is 99% sure that I will finish in Roma. I am excited. I really have enjoyed this time here. I love the unique opportunities to do exchanges with missionaries all over Italy. I have really enjoyed digging in and working with them and the different challenges that they face in different regions of Italy. It is really interesting work and really uplifting.

Well that is all for this week. Love you!

Anziano Hatch

Let the Madness Begin

Well this week has been a great week - real busy, filled with plot twists and fun. But first, let me just say that I can't believe that all those people are home! Man, I feel really old. I had a younger missionary ask me this morning, "So Anziano Hatch, when do you finish?" I said, "May," and he said, "Wow you are old." So there you have it - the word of someone who cannot lie.

So this week we started our Zone Conferences, but because they are in the off transfer in the rotation, they are Specialized Training Meetings. The first one was in Catania in Sicily. We went down a day early, but we flew into Palermo because a missionary left the keys to the car at the mission home last week. So we had to go rescue the car at the Palermo airport. And after paying a good sum of money, we went on the way to Messina. There I got my permesso de soggiorno. That makes me a legal resident again in Italy until May 20...weird. I wonder why they chose that day.

We stayed the night there and planned our training for the meeting and then headed for Catania Tuesday morning. The conference went really well. President Kelly talked about our thoughts and how we become what we think. Really good training. We flew back from Catania to Rome Tuesday night. It is kind of weird flying all over the place. I feel like Dad back in his Basic American Foods days flying all over the place. But thankfully, I haven't tested the "even if the bag does not inflate, oxygen is still flowing" yet. Yesterday we had a fun P-day. But before the fun, we had to play taxi driver to a couple of misisonaries with hand problems that had to come to Rome to see a hand specialist here. Then we got to play a little bit of soccer and some basketball. That was wonderufl, although I am quite sore today. But I haven't done that in a very long time.

Those classes look great Mom. I don't think I can take Chem 105 because it is a four credit class and I can't take more than 18 credits in a semester. But that is good for now, and if I want to change something when I get home I can do that. So how is BYU doing is basketball? I hear they are tearing it up. Well that is it for me, family. Love you all!

Anziano Hatch

These are the latest pictures of the temple grounds

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

Well as you can tell, this week has been a busy one. We have been on the go as we have prepared for Zone Leader Council. We had a senior couple that got hit with some pretty bad colds, so we ended up sharing a lot of their responsibilities and taking care of our own. I believe I bought airplane tickets for the first time in my life. That was a new experience - nothing big, but new. I did great. One thing that I have learned being here is that there are a lot of logistics that go into a mission this big. Lots of traveling, and lots of missionaries thinking, and lots of potential problems. We try to keep things as simple as possible. We had very few problems bringing in the zone leaders from all over southern Italy and the two islands. After everyone was here in Rome at the misison home, we had a great council about things that could go better in our mission:

1. Our relationship with members and how we work with them.

2. Rules in the Missionary Handbook that we need to focus on as a mission.

3. Being more diligent in our work.

It was a good conference. We got people back to their assigned cities with a little hassle, but everything went well.

So a couple of incredible travel things that happened during the council - First, a couple of missionaries in Sardegna missed their flight because during the night someone knocked the phone off of the nightstand, and the battery fell out. They got to the airport as fast as they could but missed the flight by a couple of minutes. Somehow, Alitalia let them change their flight for free. Try that on for size as a miracle in these days. Then on the way back, we were driving out to the airport, and we got there (40 minute drive) and one of the missionaries says that he forgot the key to their car in Sicily at the mission home. So to make a long story short, we are changing our traveling schedule so we can fly to Palermo instead of Catania to get the car out of the airport parking. Nothing ever goes 100% correct when you are moving missionaries around. Too much free agency involved. Although that is not a bad thing. It is just what keeps it from going 100% great and keeping us from getting "pneumonia in the baptismal font from baptizing so many people." haha

Well that is it for my letter. Love you all!

Anziano Hatch

Transfers

Well, this week is transfer week. I didn't get transferred, obviously, since I didn't write yesterday. So I am still in Rome. So as you have probably guessed, we finished helping president with transfers. As he normally does, we showed up to the office Saturday morning (the day of the transfer calls) and changed some things. So then we prepared the travel plans for everyone and spent the next couple days working kinks out. That is always fun.

Monday, we had a missionary in the mission have surgery on his finger. He tore a small ligament in his pinky. So we spent the day in the hospital waiting for him. Everything went well, and the pinky will be alright. But we spent pretty much the whole day in assisting with that. Then on Tuesday, the biggest adventure was that of the Courtyard Marriott. They called us looking for some more copies of the Book of Mormon. So we went on an adventure and went and found the Courtyard Marriott and gave them the books. We were even able to give away a couple in Italian. That was a good adventure. We got lost a little bit.

So on Wednesday, we got a lot of things done. We finally washed our car. That took only about two transfers to do. It is pretty clean. Proud of it. Then we prepared some things for some departing missionaries, and then we went suit shopping. I got a pretty nice one 95 euros off the normal price. Plus, I got a free tie on top of that. I will show you a picture next week. Sister Kelly said that she would hem the pants, so pretty soon you will have a picture of me in my new suit. Then we went around Rome and picked up luggage for some missionaries going home on Friday.

Today we have been driving missionaries all around Rome getting people where they need to be. It has been a good day. Things have gone pretty smoothly. Very good.

Well, I love you all. Have a great day!!

Anziano Hatch

129, 141, 132, 104

Yes, you are right. The numbers in the title are my bowling scores today. The last game, I played throwing between my legs because my arm was tired and it gave me more support. I actually played really well for bowling between my legs. I thought that it was pretty fun.

This week finished our stretch of exchanges for the transfer, which means it is time to think transfers. I love this opportunity to work with President Kelly as we work through where missionaries could be most effective. The best part is watching someone with the keys receive revelation on where people must go. I feel a lot like what I imagine Elder Rasband felt like when he talked about his experience with then Elder Eyring calling missionaries to certain missions. I always go in thinking, "Pay closer attention, and you can know too." I don't seem to always be really helpful, but every once in a while Anziano Sapio, President, and I are all on the same page. And it is really cool.

Well, I don't have much else to say about the week. But I have been thinking about what I am going to major in and stuff back at BYU, and right now this is my latest decision. I would really appreciate input, especially from mom and dad. Ok, to major in Computer Science and to minor in Business Management, and then do prerequisites for Physical Therapy school. What do you think? I am feeling pretty good about it. We'll see.

I love you all. Enjoy the pictures!

Anziano Hatch

Badu

Well this week has been a great one. We finished off the week by finishing off our exchanges in Sicily. We then flew to Rome. What a miracle modern flight technology is. We took a 13 hour drive and got from the apartment in Palermo, to the airport, to Rome, and to our apartment in under 4 hours. It was amazing. So we did that, and it was great to be in Messina again. I really like that city. I was here in Rome for my birthday, and yes, I got my package before my birthday. So good planning mom!

We were here on Sunday for church, and I translated again. I have really come to love it. Then we prepared ourselves to take a ferry to Sardegna or Sardinia as it is written in English, I believe. We got on the ship at 2130 hours, and it left at 2230 hours. It took pretty much the whole night to travel to Olbia where we got off at 0600 hours. We left Olbia and drove to Sassari. That is where the zone conference was. We had a really good conference there. We did exchanges with the zone leader and his companion in Olbia. Then last night we came back on the ferry. It was a really good week.

Unfortunately, I have run out of time for the week. I love you all. Happy Birthday Julie!

Anziano Hatch

Sicily

Well, this week we are back in Sicily. Anziano Sapio has returned after serving his entire mission on this island until Rome, and I am back after a short two month stay in Rome. We flew down on Monday, and we were in Catania doing exchanges for the rest of the day. Then Tuesday, we had zone conference with the entire island of Sicily. It was a good conference. It is nice to see everyone serving here in Sicily. President spoke again about acting and not being acted upon. It is the third time I have heard his training, but I learn something every time. He is an amazing man, like my father. After zone conference finished, we took the train to Messina where I am writing this letter.

By the way...get out your coats and your hats because it's cold out there today. It's cold out there everyday...But you'd better get down to the square because that's right folks, it's GROUNDHOG DAY! Haha good movie. I hope the groundhog doesn't see his shadow, because I am tired of rain. Getting back into the sun would be really nice.

While we were in Catania doing exchanges, I was with the zone leader there and we were doing finding work in the rain. And no one was outside to talk to, and we were kind of down. Then my companion was like, let's talk to that guy with a dog. We went up and presented our worst presentation of the gospel and got rejected pretty hard. We talked after that and said how bad that approach was, and then my companion said, "Well we can't do much worse than that, so what do we have to lose?" It was a good point. So we talked to a lot more people after that. It was just a funny way that we broke the finding work ice.

Well, things are going great. Sounds like the house is getting a good work out and a change up. Seems like things will be different when I come home. Oh ya mom, I was online looking at classes last week, and I put some stuff on myMap that I would like to take. So there are references to some classes right there. I also changed some things. Welp love you all!

Anziano Hatch

Here We Go

Well family, the hype has died down a little bit, and I have some time to write you an email. This week started the zone conferences. The first one was in Bari. So Anziano Sapio and I drove down on Sunday night, and we drove down to Lecce to do an exchange with the Zone Leaders there on Monday. It was a good exchange. The city of Lecce is a beautiful one. It was also fun to work with the missionaries there. Then the next morning, we went to Bari with the missionaries from Lecce, and we had a zone conference there. We were the last ones to speak and we presented our mission goal of reaching 240 baptisms in the year of 2011. We kind of did the fire up of the troops kind of thing. I think that it was received very well. After zone conference we left Bari and drove back to Rome completing a trip of about 750 miles. So I am getting my share of seeing Italy.

Wednesday we went into the office to check email and stuff, and we found out that the night before - before the sisters got home in Rome 3 - someone had broken in and torn apart their apartment. It was weird. They only took a camera and an empty make-up bag. But they sure did make a mess of the apartment. So we went over that morning to check out the apartment with the person in charge of apartments here in the mission. We were there until a locksmith came. That took about three hours. We got to know the man really well. He is actually the stake patriarch of the Rome Stake. So he is really cool. Needless to say, the sisters were alright, just shaken up a little bit, but they don't want to go back to that apartment. So we have locked it up and are trying to figure out what to do with it.

After we got back from the apartment, we went to the misison home and talked to President and Sister Kelly about the state of the apartment and so on. By the time we finished with that, we had to go to the airport and pick up some missionaries that were coming in from Malta, which - if you didn't know - is in our mission. So we got back around eight, and the day was pretty much over. So I wrote you that email. Then yesterday, we did zone conference here in Rome. It went well. It was good.

So to answer some questions - a typical week as an assistant is what you just read. We go to the airport. We come back. We get stuck in traffic and think of stuff to do when we get gridlocked. We are kind of the firemen of the mission. If there is some kind of emergency or something that president needs to get done, we are always on call. When we travel or plan travel, it depends on where we are talking about because if they must fly, we shop, because we can make reservations. For trains and buses, we just take whatever fits our schedule best. Our time with zone leaders is spent mostly doing exchanges and stuff with them. And my companion is the cook, Anziano Sapio.

Well family, that is it. I love you all very much. Mom, if you can get me my BYU id name and password, that would be great. Thanks!

Love,
Anziano Hatch

Lecce

Sorry, But It Will Have to Wait

Well family, another week has come and gone. But unfortunately, I don't have time to write. Seeing that tomorrow is Zone Conference here in Rome, we probably won't be able to write tomorrow. But maybe if we get lucky we will do that. But if not, it is already written in our agendas that we will do it on Friday. On Friday I will be able to give a better report on what has happened during the week. I love you all, and everything is going great. I am healthy, happy, and enjoying life. Love you all!

Anziano Hatch

New Transfer

Well the new transfer has begun. What a busy time it has been. Last Thursday we accompanied missionaries to the airport. That was a weird experience. It seemed surreal seeing people go home that I have worked with for all of my mission. I am getting old.

Then over the last weekend, we have been adjusting to the new accomodations as the work is split in two instead of three. So it took a day to get used to that. On Sunday, Sacrament Meeting was especially nice. The talks were both really relevant and spiritual - well done. And the closing talk was given by the Bishop. His talk was really good. And as usual, I translated for both Sunday School and Sacrament Meeting. It is funny. For being a thing that I did not like doing at all, I have grown to enjoy translating. It is kind of fun and a neat challenge.

Mondays we had some administrative things to do, like setting up traveling schedules for the zone leaders that will be coming to Rome tomorrow. Then we had a really long planning meeting with president for the whole transfer. We pretty much know what our transfer will be like. It is going to be busy but fun, and really spiritual.

Yesterday we did some more things to work out kinks in the schedule, and we had a doctor's appointment for my companion. Then in the afternoon we prepared our training for the Zone Leader's Conference, and then we had an appointment with some less actives. The husband was actually baptized last year while I was here. They are still awesome, just kind of lazy and have been busy in the holiday season. I hate that excuse, because I think it is the hardest to work with. But it was a good meeting with them.

Today we went to the Cathedrals of John the Baptist and Paul. They were big and really decorated - pretty places and pretty sculptures. Here are a couple of pictures. Just kidding. I forgot my card reader. So next week!

As far as ending the mission here in Rome, I have no idea. But I will do whatever President Kelly wants me to do. I love you all!

Anziano Hatch

The Week That Went By

Wow what a crazy week it has been. After settling in on his transfer decisions, I went outside of Rome to fill a vacancy that was there, because a missionary left mid-transfer. So I was a normal missionary again for a week. It was weird. But I liked it. On Saturday we spent pretty much the entire day knocking on doors and trying to find people to teach as it was hard to get appointments with many people still in holiday mode. Sunday went by real nicely. Church was good. It was a smaller ward but great nonetheless. Then on Monday, we did some English class advertisements and some more finding work. We also looked for some less-actives and some ex-investigators doing everything we could to get some new people to teach. We did have a promising lesson with the bishop and an investigator. That should result in a baptismal date by the end of the week.

Then on Tuesday we taught English class. I don't know why, but I really enjoyed the English class there. I usually loath teaching English, but I enjoyed myself. On Wednesday I had to take two trains to get back to Rome to help out with the new missionaries that have come in. So after about six hours, I returned to Rome. We arrived at the Villa and ate dinner with the new missionaries. It is always great to be around new missionaries. They are so energetic. Then we gave a couple of short trainings and then they opened up their assignment envelopes. I will be losing a companion as he is going to Batapaglia to train. That will be fun for him. I really enjoyed that city.

This morning most of the new missionaries left with Anziano Hansen to the train station to catch a 7:45am train. So they are off going to serve the Lord. It is amazing how things work in the mission from an administration point of view. Lots of behind the scenes work. It is a cool experience to be here.

The past week it has been really warm here. We must of stolen the warm weather from the Rocky Mountains cause it sounds like it is pretty cold over there. I miss the snow though, and a nice truck. Good stuff.

Well that is about it for me this week. Everything is great over here. Hope everything is going good over there. I love you all!

Anziano Hatch

New Years

Well, Happy New Year family of mine! How was the celebration? Ours was all right. New Year's Eve we all had a curfew of 6pm. So at six, we were inside and thinking of things to do, while Anziano Sapio cooked. He made pasta al forno. It was pretty darn good. Then we played a game much like Parcheesi. That was pretty fun also. New Year's Day is a cleaning day in our mission. So we spent the whole day cleaning our apartment and stuff. Then around six, Anziano Sapio and his companions (aka Anziano Hansen and I) were invited to the mission home for a cooking demonstration - well, to watch Anziano Sapio cook and to talk to us, basically. Anziano Sapio did a wonderfully good job. He makes really good food.

Sunday, I spent sacrament meeting like I do every Sunday...translating. It is always kind of awkward translating weird testimonies. Luckily, there were not too many of those weird testimonies. So that was good. Then we were invited to a Philippino New Year's lunch/dinner. That is good food.

The last couple of days we have been working on transfers with president. We have that pretty much finished up, but that has been our main project with him in these last couple of days. Surprisingly, this last week of December was the strongest in December. That was good to see. Needless to say, we are shuffling things around pretty good this transfer. It should be good.

Well, I leave you with a few pictures!

Love,
Anziano Hatch

P.S. Oh, and I also found some Guarana at the store the other day. Sorry if I butchered the Portuguese spelling.